For most of its history, the area known
as Bangladesh was a political backwater- an observer rather than a
participant in the great political and military events of the Indian
subcontinent. Historians believe that Bengal, the area comprising
present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, was settled in
about 1000 B.C. (3000 years ago) by Dravidian-speaking peoples who
were later known as the Bang.
Their homeland bore various titles that
reflected earlier tribal names, such as Vanga, Banga, Bangala,
Bangal, and Bengal. The first great indigenous empire to spread
over most of present day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh was the Mauryan
Empire (ca. 320-180 B.C.), whose most famous ruler was Asoka (ca.
273-232 B.C.).
Although the empire was well administered and
politically integrated, little is known of any reciprocal benefits between it
and eastern Bengal. The western part of Bengal, however, achieved some
importance during the Mauryan period because ships sailed from its ports
to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
During the time of the Mauryan Empire, Buddhism came
to Bengal, and it was from there that Asoka's son, Mahinda, carried
the message of the Enlightened One to Sri Lanka. After the decline of the
Mauryan Empire the eastern portion of Bengal became the kingdom of Samatata;
although politically independent, it was a tributary state of the Indian Gupta
Empire (A.D. ca. 319-ca. 540).
The third great empire was the Harsha
Empire (A.D. 606-47), which drew Samatata into its loosely
administered political structure. The disunity following the demise of this
short-lived empire allowed a Buddhist chief named Gopala to
seize power as the first ruler of the Pala Dynasty (A.D.
750-1150). He and his successors provided Bengal with stable government,
security, and prosperity while spreading Buddhism throughout the state and into
neighboring territories. Trade and influence were extensive under Pala
leadership, as emissaries were sent as far as Tibet and Sumatra.
The Senas, orthodox and militant Hindus,
replaced the Buddhist Palas as rulers of a united Bengal until
the Turkish conquest in 1202. Opposed to the Brahmanic Hinduism of
the Senas with its rigid caste system, vast numbers of Bengalis,
especially those from the lower castes, would later convert to Islam.
Source: Bangladesh, a country study
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress
Edited by: James Heitzman and Robert L.
Worden
Research Completed September 1988.
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